I saw a painting in a Chinese gallery that had a very shiny black background. So I wanted to try it. Bamboo is special for me. This is a particular kind, more rare I think, with purple stems. It was hard doing the colours correctly so it looked 3D since there are no other clues. It’s hard to get the right place – between a photo like bamboo and the idea of bamboo…

It’s hard to see on the web, but there’s a lovely blue glow around the top of the stems at the leaves.